Can-Am love

[René]

There will never be another racing series so wild, extravagant and monstrous as the (original) Can-Am. I wish I had seen it live, that must have been something! But I can still droole over the pictures and film footage about this amazing period in motorsport history. Here are some great photos of these wonderful cars and drivers.


Bruce McLaren and his M6A Chev at the 1967 Road America Can Am.
(Dave Friedman)


Peter Gethin, McLaren M8D. Riverside 1970. See how low he sits in that car!


Jackie Stewart and his ‘Cowcatcher Winged’ Lola T260 Chev, Laguna Seca 1971. (Pete Biro)


John Surtees, Lola T70 Mk2 Chev leads Bruce McLaren’s McLaren M1B Chev at St Jovite, Mont Tremblant, 11 September 1966, they finished in this order.

Feel free to add pictures and/or Can-Am stories!

[mikael]

An unfulfilled Can-Am dream

Toyota planned to enter a turbo-charged version of their Group 7 car "Toyota 7" in Can-Am for the 1970 season. Prior to that, the (non-turbo-charged) car, a Toyota-Yamaha collaboration, had raced in Japan in '68 and '69. However, after two testing accidents, one in '69 and one in '70, with a driver fatality in each of them, the plan was abandoned and the Toyota 7 was never raced again.

The photos, showing the turbo-charged car prepared for Can-Am, are from Toyota Automobile Museum (Nagoya), Oct. 2010.

[Carl]

Rene,

Beautiful photos! Peter Gethin was quite short and was brought into the car tailored to the much taller Dan Gurney, who had to step aside because of a sponsor conflict. It's remarkable how well Jackie Stewart did in the Lola T260, a car he detested that never came right.

Mikael,

I remember the intense interest in the American racing magazines about the Toyota. "When will it appear? This year? Next year?" A beautifully designed car that, had testing gone well, would have been 2 years ahead of the turbocharged Porsche 917-10. Had testing gone well, Toyota would only have needed to position the rear wing further back and balance the aerodynamics to have a powerful "point and squirt" demon on the straights. And if it also handled, they'd have had a serious contender.

[Deleted]

Absolutely correct, Mikael. Gurney invented that small lip on the wing's trailing edge and is widely applied.

I read in a Road&Track magazine of a couple of months ago that Dan at his good age is still doing heavy R&D, patenting a new kind of engine or some such (will have to find the page and show it here, in due course).

[mikael]

Thank you for your comment, Lucio.
However, I removed my post again - before I saw your comment - because I think now that I have misunderstood something regarding this topic. Please excuse me. Perhaps you can help me out ...

Admittedly, until now, I regarded the large flaps as seen on the Lola and the McLaren in the last photo of René's post also as Gurney flaps.

But upon checking the subject (which I of course should have done before posting) it seems that, what Dan Gurney did was to attach a *small* flap to the trailing edge of a wing - just as it is used now (turned on its head) on airplanes, etc.

The *large* flaps used in the mid/late 1960's, mounted vertically on the trailing edge of the bodywork, as seen clearly in the last of René's photos - that was not Dan Gurney's idea, right?

As I (think I) understand it now, inspired (probably) by seeing these large flaps, Gurney attached a similar but much smaller flap to the trailing edge of a wing - first time around 1970. That - and only that - is a Gurney flap.

Is this correct Lucio?

[Deleted]

Yes, Mikael, the Gurney flap is not the "whole" flap, is only that lip at the trailing edge.

[mikael]

Thank you, Lucio.
Do you know who came up with the idea of the large flaps attached to the rear-end bodywork - like the large grey (slightly slanting) flap on the Lola and the (apparently vertical) red flap (with four bolts) on the McLaren, as seen on the last of René's photos?

These flaps must have been the forerunners - and the inspiration - of Gurney's flap.

[Deleted]

Mikael, the story I knew, or at least I recall, is that of a German (?) engineer, Michael May, who first put a rear spoiler on a Porsche in the '50s.

This link should provide some detail:

www.mulsannescorner.com/history.htm

[mikael]

Thanks a lot again Lucio.

(I'd better re-post my original post, in order not to cause confusion)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Below is the post to which Lucio responded.
Please note that the first paragraph (put in square brackets) is a misunderstanding on my part (cf. Lucio's post above). The rest is OK.

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[Regarding the large Gurney flaps visible on the backs of the Lola and the McLaren in the last photo of René's post:]

While the wings on racing cars were adopted from aircraft, it's interesting to note that Dan Gurney's flap was an original invention, and that it went "the other way", in the sense that the aircraft industry adopted this device - from motor racing. Gurney flaps are now widely used, on aircraft wings, on helicopter blades, and on windmill blades.

So this is an example of two-way technology transfer, and an example of an invention in motor racing that has transcended "road relevance"!

(I find it amusing also that many engineers working in the field of aeronautics, and the windmill industry, are not aware that this device was actually invented by a racing driver - that's my impression at least.)

[René]

Nov 22, 2017 1:47:57 GMT mikael said:

An unfulfilled Can-Am dream

Toyota planned to enter a turbo-charged version of their Group 7 car "Toyota 7" in Can-Am for the 1970 season. Prior to that, the (non-turbo-charged) car, a Toyota-Yamaha collaboration, had raced in Japan in '68 and '69. However, after two testing accidents, one in '69 and one in '70, with a driver fatality in each of them, the plan was abandoned and the Toyota 7 was never raced again.

The photos, showing the turbo-charged car prepared for Can-Am, are from Toyota Automobile Museum (Nagoya), Oct. 2010.

Thanks for sharing this, Mikael. I have to admit I wasn't aware of the Toyota project, never heard of it. But it's an awesome looking car and what a shame (and tragedy) it never materialized.

[René]

Nov 22, 2017 5:10:38 GMT Carl said:

Peter Gethin was quite short and was brought into the car built for the much taller Dan Gurney

Ah, he should have used a pillow then. My mother always did.

[chrisb]

did Dan patent the Gurney flap?

[chrisb]

in truth I never really 'got' Can-Am, and when I see a historic collection I still don't that buzz when I saw the Le Mans cars, I guess it was more about brute force, talking of which in Bruce's excellent documentary they show of Bruce starting last and finishing second, which was some race

[Carl]

The Canadian-American Challenge Cup was a hotbed of innovative engineering. Besides the fastest mainstream designs, there were several wild and crazy ones.

The first Shadow, designed by Trevor Harris with 10" front and 12" rear diameter wheels and bravely driven by George Follmer, while brilliantly conceived and offering tantalizing prospects for success was, like several others in the end, an engineering bridge too far.  As described by its driver, "it was an absolute rocket-ship down the straight. But it wouldn't stop. And it wouldn't cool. And it bounced around like crazy because it had hardly any springs, as if the shocks had come off a Model T ... basically, it was an awful car."

Another radical design concept, the Mac's IT Special, featured four small electric motors, one at each wheel. Far too radical, beyond all hope of being sorted or having competitive speed, nonetheless the wild and crazy idea foreshadowed more successful hybrid systems decades later.

The innovative ideas fostered by the Can-Am rules were a part of its appeal but the main appeal had spectators standing lap after lap, spellbound by the thunderous fury of sound and speed.  Can-Am cars were stupendously loud and brutally fast enough to alternate lap records with Formula One each year at Mosport and Watkins Glen. 



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[Carl]

Thanks to Lucio we can enjoy Pete Lyons' ride with Peter Revson in his M8F at Riverside Raceway

In boldface italics I describe where he was assaulted by gravity

From the pits, the first corner encountered is Turn 2, a 120-odd-mph right-hander entering a little valley which holds the esses. From the track you can’t see all around 2; it vanishes between dun-colored slopes. The track is a dark grey band, and on it is a black arc. You know that arc is your lifeline. You must hit it precisely. It’s all shooting back at you like falling off a mountain. It looks narrow. It’s arriving very fast. Too fast, really, to think about.  

Turn 1 is bypassed by the pit exit.  Fortunately, Turn 2 is also wonderful.

The engine’s throb eases. Revson’s hands address the wheel in a blur. The McLaren has darted around. It was over like the lash of a whip. For one instant there was a bucket-on-a-rope sensation, then that huge engine was driving again and we were straight. 

Revson got a little sideways in Turn 2

That was the only moment in the entire ride I felt any apprehension. That magnificent automobile had shrugged off that curve with such contempt that I surrendered myself completely. No twinge of doubt about the car’s abilities ever formed again. I relaxed.

The passenger seat cushion will later be laundered

The aerodynamics squash the car to the road, and it changes direction like a puma chasing a rabbit. Slashing through the esses is like being attacked on both sides at once.

Through the famous Riverside esses

A great hammer struck my spine, slamming my head back. I forced it down, and stared at the long black roadway between the orange wheel bulges. It was rushing like some demonic torrent frantic to enter the gates of hell. Small markings - stains, patches, pebbles – appeared as flickers and were gone like dust on a cine film. There was no longer any sensation of speed. We were going too fast.

This is exiting Turn 8 and accelerating onto Riverside's mile long main straight.

A bridge flashed overhead like an aircraft’s shadow. The wide straight kinked to the left. Still absolutely on full bore, the McLaren bent into it. The world tilted on edge. To hold myself away from the driver’s arms, I had to strain any tendon. Just ahead, the world ended in a boilerplate wall. The last time I had seen the tachometer, it had been showing 6600. That had been 184mph, but Peter Revson’s foot had been hard down ever since. I couldn’t look at it now. My eyes were stuck on that wall.

The brakes are the most phenomenal feature. Flying down into Turn 9, aiming squarely at that boilerplate wall at 190mph, Revvie’s right leg makes one strong pumping movement, and a tremendous force, like a giant octopus, tries to suck me down into the footwell.

Beneath the Champion Bridge and approaching Turn 9

It’s like an insane bull. There is a shattering bellow going on, which I feel as much as hear. I feel it in my chest. Everything behind me seems to be trying to push through to the front of me. The straight is nothing before such acceleration; it hurls back at us like a snapped rubber band.

After Turn 9 and onto the start/finish straight



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